Always rethinking the Southeast Asian past

These two advertisements are from the late 1930s or early 1940s. The text in both of them is the same. It says,

“irregular bowel movements constipated with scybala*

This might lead to hemorrhoids.

You should useBELL BRAND LAXATIVE

Bell Brand Laxative does not need to be consumed. Just press it into the anal tract, and fecal matter will flow out on its own. It can be used by both children and adults.”

(*scybala = hardened masses of feces)

It then says at the bottom that Chieng Hok Pharmacy on Raachawong Road in Bangkok is the distributor for Thailand.

I love the picture in the advertisement above. The actual laxative has a picture of what looks like an elderly Chinese woman matter of factly sticking her finger into a child’s anus. The woman in the advertisement, however, is a “modern” woman. Her hair and clothing look great, but her facial expression indicates that there are many things she would rather be doing than sticking her finger into her child’s anus. . .